Gainsborough Striders runner Clare Hardwick gets personal best in 10 mile tester

Back in the day, 10 miles races were much more common than 10Ks.

Nowadays though they are run much less frequently, which is a shame as they are a good stepping stone for those looking to step up from 10k to a half marathon.

The Wolds ‘Tough Ten’ race is one that has survived though and, on Saturday, the 36th running of this event took place.

It is aptly named as it takes place on some of the hilliest parts of Lincolnshire, near Rothwell, Caistor.

Four Striders had entered the race and, despite the unforgiving course, two of them returned with new personal bests.

Jordan Skelly shaved 6 seconds off his previous record as he finished in 56.54. This meant he had to delay his departure because he had to wait for the presentation ceremony to collect his trophy for second place.

Even more impressive was Clare Hardwick’s performance. She clocked in at 89.21, over 10 ½ minutes faster than she had run before. Craig Ward and Nigel Bowler made up the Strider quartet, both finishing in season’s best times of 74.48 and 77.10 respectively.

Simon Hunt had driven over the Humber Bridge to participate in the Hull marathon. Shortly after he found himself running back and forth over the Bridge in the early part of the 26 mile run. The whole run went well as he finished in 3 hrs 22 minutes to secure 82nd spot in a sizeable field.

Shaun Boyle ran his 50th 10K race earlier in the year and seems to have set himself the goal of reaching 100 races as quickly as possible. His latest effort came at the Market Rasen race, starting and finishing on their famous racecourse, and saw him home in a time of 50.26. Meanwhile, Chantelle Smith was making her Strider debut at the distance. It was a successful start too; her time 59.26.

Three runners made the short trip to Clumber Park for their latest monthly 10k trail race. Phil Marsland had what he described as a ‘steady’ run but still finished in 46.47. Thomas Sweeting scurried round in 49.33, leaving his mum, Helen some way behind as she completed the route in 56.19, still a comfortable top half finish.

The previous day, Alexandra Ramsdale and mum Karen both ran PB times at the Clumber Park parkrun. Wayne Greenfield did likewise at Scunthorpe on his way to a 5th place finish.

The next Junior training is at the Gainsborough Academy on Tuesday at 5:30 pm The next adult session is tonight from outside Queen Elizabeth High School at 6:30 p.m. Next Tuesday’s training begins at 7:30 pm at the Corringham Road Industrial Estate. New members are welcome.